The Champions Hockey League was introduced for the 2008/2009 season with champions and top teams from seven European countries. The ZSC Lions Zurich (Switzerland) won the first edition in an exciting home-and-away final against Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia). Click here for the 2008/2009 season.

Due to the global financial crisis the competition was not played after that season but has been reintroduced for the 2014/2015 season under a new structure. The Champions Hockey League is operated by a new shareholder company in Zurich owned by the IIHF, six founding domestic leagues (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland) and 26 founding clubs from those leagues. Additional teams from these countries as well as from France, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Norway and Slovakia participate in the inaugural season that includes 44 teams.

The various stakeholders are represented in the CHL Executive Board that includes IIHF Vice President Kalervo Kummola as representative of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Champions Hockey League uses infrastructural synergies with the International Ice Hockey Federation with its offices located at the headquarters of the IIHF and the use of the IIHF’s statistical system Hydra. The commercial partner of the CHL is Infront Sports & Media.